Rhubarb & Strawberry Ripple FroYo

About a week after Luise and I first danced into each other, we shared our first ice cream. Or actually, I don’t think we shared. I had a so co called “gelato-disorder” at the time, so sharing wasn’t really on the agenda. But we did have ice cream together. I lived in Rome when we met, and Luise called in sick from her work in Denmark and bought a plane ticket to fly back and go on a date with me. First night we had dinner. Second night ice cream.

I’m not sure which flavors I had, but a not so wild guess would be coffee and pistachio. Luise had strawberry and chocolate. I remember that very clearly because I remember thinking that she ate it too slowly (typically me), so she spilled some chocolate on her skirt. She still has that skirt and whenever she wears it, it gets me thinking of chocolate ice cream.

I would love to say that ever since then, ice cream has had a special place in our hearts. But actually, I think my love affair with ice cream stopped when my love affair with Luise begun. Don’t get me wrong, we are still quite the ice cream eaters. But it’s not extreme anymore. We stick to the good stuff every once in a while. And when we do ice cream at home, we almost always make it yogurt-based. We have a really delicious coconut frozen yogurt recipe in our dessert app. With Summer around the corner, rhubarb and strawberries are starting to pop up everywhere. So we felt almost obliged to make a FroYo out of them.

The basics behind frozen yogurt are ridiculously simple. Yogurt, sweetener and flavor. You could add one or two tsp of vodka to make it a bit softer, but we prefer using a fatter yogurt and less freezing time instead. We use an ice cream machine (not a fancy brand), it’s the easiest and best way, but you can also make it by hand.

We prefer our FroYo slightly tart and not overly sweet. You can adjust the amount of honey depending on your preference and on the tartness of the fruit. High season strawberries and rhubarb are generally sweeter than pre-season.

Place rhubarbs, strawberries, vanilla pod + seeds, and 4 tbsp honey in a medium size saucepan, cover and bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the pod and use a fork or a stick blender to mash up the fruit. We like it slightly chunky but you could of course make it completely smooth if you prefer. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until completely cool. Combine yogurt, the rest of the honey and 3/4 of the fruit compote. Pour the FroYo mixture into an ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. When done, remove the ice cream paddle. Stir in the rest of the fruit compote carefully so you get a ripple effect. Pour the FroYo into a freeze proof container (we use a bread tin). Leave in the freezer until firm, or as long as you like.

What a sweet story! (No pun intended?) My guy is lactose-intolerant, so he avoids ice cream and gelatto. He can handle frozen yogurt however, so we often treat ourselves to that instead after going out to dinner. I wish the stores in town served your strawberry rhubarb flavor! Although we might fight over the last spoonful, so maybe not… :)

Hi Michelle, we haven’t tried it. But please do, we are very curious how it would turn out. We recommend using the fattest plant based alternative. Personally, I would try it with coconut yogurt. Good luck!
/David

I ate way too much gelato in Italy, too. It was always the oddball flavors that would get me. I’d be like, “Well, I’m never gonna see persimmon gelato again, so I better try a scoop now.” Rhubarb gelato would have been the end of me. This looks exquisite – vanilla, honey, strawberries and rhubarb? Yum! Such stunning photos, too. Definitely making this – thanks!

Froyo has been our go to icecream for last couple of years – so much less guilt. My favorite froyo flavor is inspired from Indian dessert called shrikand – saffron, cardamom and pistachio toppings – you will love it xo

Hello from Brasil!
I´m always here, but rarely comment.
It sounds PERFECT. Sadly is really really difficult to find rhubarb here.
Just one thing: you put the strawberries just on the ingredients list. I´m sure you cooked them with the rhubarb, for the compote, but someone could be in doubt.

I absolutely adore homemade ice creams and frozen yoghurts and rhubarb is perhaps one of the best because its season is so fleeting. Good choice on the coffee and pistachio flavours too – two of my favourites :-)

Beautiful pics! Love ice cream and we are so happy we can eat raw vegan versions. Thank you for the inspiraitons. Sounds delicious and your pics gives real summer feelings! We have bought been living in Rome as well. Beautiful city!

This frozen yogurt is so beautiful! Thanks for the recipe – it’s delightful! I have an incredible frozen yogurt shop here in my hometown, Vanilla Jill’s and make small batches from local, grassfed dairy, and seasonal ingredients/flavors. They even soak, sprout, and make homemade nut milks for non-diary flavors and often use only dates, maple syrup, and raw honey for sweetener! I could go on and sing their praises, but I digress. The point is, I learned an incredible trick from them: use kefir as the base for your frozen yogurt! I’ve been a believer ever since (it also works better in many ice cream machines).

Thanks so much for sharing this sweet and touchy story :). Glad to have found your blog. This looks like a wonderful recipe and looks like there are many others :). I have no doubts this will be very delicious and with summer just around the corner, now might be the perfect time to enjoy!

Love your pictures as well.! The foods and colors look amazing. Congrats on everything and look forward to following your site. Thanks!

Hi Luise and David,
I just love this post – from the photos to the words to the recipe – everything about it makes my heart sing. There is something so sweet about those first moments in love, noticing the little things – even as sweet as strawberries and ice-cream. Can’t wait to try this, thanks!

With very local rhubarb and berries, honey from my father’s bees and a fresh vanilla bean my son had brought back from Madagascar I whipped up a batch of FroYo. Even though the compote looked quite drab, the color of the final product was amazingly cheerful. Being FroYo, it was a little on the tart side, but that did not stop me from eating two bowlfuls. It was quite refreshing and since I used low fat yogurt and not heavy cream, I did not feel the least bit guilty.

Made this today! Tasted great but came out runny even though I had it in the ice cream maker for 40 minutes – but it was like the blades beat the air out of the creamy yogurt. Do you think I could skip the ice cream maker-step and just freeze it? The thing is, when I freeze yogurt it either ends up rock solid or too runny, can’t seem to find that perfect amount of hours in the freezer. Do you have any tips? Thanks for a great recipe though :)

My boyfriend made me this for valentine’s day breakfast last Friday, it was excellent – really delicious recipe! He made it without an ice cream maker too, said that he just froze it and beat it every hour 4 times. Was great.

Love the look of this! Planning to make it for dessert tomorrow when I’m having some friends over for dinner, and the Danish strawberries are absolutely perfect right now!
One question though: how many servings does this make?